Cuba reaffirms friendship with Angola on Agostinho Neto's centennial anniversary

Havana, September 13 (RHC)-- Cuban authorities reaffirmed Tuesday the friendship with Angola during a political-cultural event in honor of the centennial of the birth of Antonio Agostinho Neto, the leading figure of the African country's independence.

We are heirs of the legacy of brotherhood forged by historic leaders Fidel Castro and Neto. We are committed to preserving it for the future, said the member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), Yoel Queipo, in the keynote speech of the tribute.

The leader ratified on behalf of his country the undying friendship between the two peoples, forged in a genuine exercise of solidarity that led more than 350 thousand Cuban combatants to fight for the Angolan independence, 2,206 of whom gave their lives, he recalled.

Queipo also mentioned the thousands of collaborators in health and other sectors of the island who have served in the African nation and the more than eight thousand young people trained in Cuba.

Meanwhile, the Attaché for Higher Education and Head of the Student Sector of the Angolan Embassy in Cuba, Eugénio dos Santos Novais, on behalf of the ambassador, highlighted the revolutionary trajectory of the Angolan leader.

He also highlighted his humanist work and his ability to interpret popular feeling, an essential element in his politics, since he had the maxim that the most important thing is to solve the problems of the people.

Agostinho Neto was born on September 17, 1922, in Kaxikane. He was a medical doctor, politician, and poet. He founded and led the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), an organization that led on November 11, 1975, to the proclamation of the independent Republic. He is considered the founding father of the Angolan nation.